CLEAN & SIMPLE Stamped Cards using the March 2023 Card Kit!
Hi all! Kristina Werner here! Today I have three cards I made using the Happy Hello stamp set included in the March 2023 Card Kit. These are cards that I thought of while designing the stamp set!
I used five different Simon inks for the stamping: Steel Blue, Burnt Orange, Sunshine, Wisteria, and Slate. And I used the grid transparency sheet for accurate stamp placement in the MISTI.
Be sure to watch the video for some tips and tricks for clean and simple stamping!
You can pick up the March 2023 Card Kit HERE, or subscribe to receive this kit and future kits HERE.
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[3 ways!] Card Making with Tiny Stamps: Yippee for Yana
Hi friends! Happy Monday! These cards are SO sweet we couldn’t resist re-sharing this post and ideas for sweet Easter cards OR any sets from your stash with “tiny” stamps. Please join me in welcoming the oh-so-talented and amazing Yana Smakula! (Please note; our dear friend Yana is Ukrainian, to show support to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, please see Yana’s post HERE.)
Hello, crafters, this is Yana Smakula for Simon Says Stamp! Welcome back for another Yippee For Yana video!
In this video, I’m sharing several ideas for creating with tiny stamps. Almost every stamp set out there includes some sort of tiny supportive images, the main goal of which is to complement the main image or images in that particular set.
Let’s look at the Bunny Blessings stamp set from Simon, for example, you have your main images – the bunnies in various poses and the 2 birch tree images. Everything in between is filled with tiny images designed to help you build the scenes for the bunnies. You have flowers, eggs, butterflies, and more.
We often forget about these tiny images and can even overlook them in our card making. But creating with tiny images is super fun as there are lots of ways you can use them. I encourage you to dig through your stash, pick a stamp set with some tiny stamps and create with me.
I thought about 3 different ways to create cards using tiny stamps:
- Use just one tiny image repeatedly to create an entire background.
- Use tiny images to form a simple shape on a card.
- Build little scenes using tiny images.
I used my mini MISTI stamping tool and stamped a row of tiny stamps from this stamp set onto white cardstock. I cut my paper into smaller panels to be able to stamp the images efficiently without having to re-position the stamps on the lid of my MISTI.
Next, I used my Copic markers and colored each image using 2 or 3 shades. With the coloring finished I used coordinating dies and cut these out.
Next, I used Simon’s triangle trays and sorted my die cuts – flowers and bows into one tray, carrots into another, butterflies into another, and eggs into another. With the die cuts done I started to build my cards.
My first card uses just one design, a carrot, to create a linear pattern for the card. I first stamped a sentiment in the center of the panel using VersaFine Onyx Black ink – I’m making Easter cards and the sentiment reads Wishing You Easter Blessings.
I poured my carrot die cuts onto the desk and added a foam square onto each before placing each carrot onto my background. I first needed to position the carrots before I would foam mount them on the card.
You can use a different image instead of a carrot for this type of card background. For example, this can be a heart, a leaf, a tiny branch, a fruit, a tiny gift, and more.
Once I positioned the carrots and was happy with the placement I foam mounted them one by one. I did add a twist to my linear design by leaning one of the bottom carrots onto the one next to it. I wanted to do that to break up the monotony of this design and add an unexpected element to it.
Next, I added shading under each carrot using C3 and then a C1 marker. I trimmed this panel to 4 x 5 1/4” and foam mounted it onto A2 card base creating a very Clean & Simple card.
For my next card, I created a heart shape focal point using all of the various tiny images. To make things easier, I used a heart mask from Simon – I positioned the mask onto a piece of white cardstock cut to 4 ¼” x 5 ½” and taped the mask in place. This gave me the perfect guide for creating my heart. I added the tiny shapes one by one filling the heart in.
You can also create a circle shape for an everyday card or an elongated triangle for a Christmas card. Building these shapes is super fun and this really lets you utilize your tiny stamps. If you don’t have a stencil mask to help you define the shape on your background you can simply trace a shape using a pencil and just erase the pencil line once you are done. The stencil masks are optional, but they are like MISTI – they make the job a thousand times easier.
I foam mounted each of the shapes and filled the gaps in with teal gems. I stamped a sentiment under the shape and foam mounted this background onto an A2 card base.
For my third card, I used tiny images to build an easter scene. I additionally stamped, colored, and cut out 4 grass pieces, to help me ground the scene. I used another stencil mask from Simon – this time a rectangle one for A2 cards and added 4 rows of grass, separated by a Happy Easter sentiment and filled with some easter eggs and butterflies.
Tiny stamps provide countless stamping opportunities as they allow you to create all sorts of designs. I hope you’ll give this idea a try! Have fun stamping!
WATCH THE VIDEO:
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks again to Yana for being our guest!
Ways to support Ukraine:
If you are looking for ways to support Ukraine, we encourage you to visit this page on Yana’s blog:
EGGstra Special Art Inspiration by Emma Williams!
Hi friends! Happy Sunday! Well, this sweet project by the one-and-only Emma Williams made me smile from EAR to EAR! (pun intended) Isn’t it the sweetest?! It was just TOO sweet to not re-post so in case you missed it from last year, be sure to check it out!! Read on for a detailed tutorial below and enjoy!
Hello everyone! I’m so happy to be back on the SSS blog today and excited to share my make with you that I created using some of the gorgeous new Sizzix Chapter 1 products from Tim Holtz.
This is such a beautiful release and with Spring hopefully just around the corner, I couldn’t resist using the Bunny Games Thinlits Die Set to create a framed panel that is perfect to display for springtime, or Easter.
So, let’s get begin and to start this project you will need a Tim Holtz idea-ology Framed Panel. This panel comes in two separate parts, the wooden frame and a baseboard and using Ground Espresso Distress Paint which I slightly watered down to create more of a stain, I painted both the frame and the sides and back of the baseboard. After drying the paint, I added a touch of Vintage Gold Gilding Wax over the top to accentuate the beading and then set the frame to one side.
Cut a panel of Distress Watercolor Card just slightly larger than the aperture of the frame and add colour to the card panel, by placing it inside a Splat Box, applying a light misting of water before spritzing with a combination of Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass, Speckled Egg Distress Sprays Stains and Tumbled Glass and Speckled Egg Oxide Sprays. If you choose, you can add more water over the sprays to blend the colours.
Once I was happy with the blend of colour, I heat dried the panel and applied Collector Design Tape around the edge, I used a floral pattern. I then machine stitched a border before attaching the card panel onto the centre of the baseboard using Matte Collage Medium. Adhere the wooden frame over the top, again using the medium. At this stage, I always clamp my frame using bulldog clips to ensure it is secure.
The frame is now complete and I moved onto creating the scene. To begin with I created the sun, using the sun die from the Circle Play Thinlits set and cut the image from a piece of Distress Watercolor card, inked with a blend of Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber Distress Inks. Ink the edges of the die cut with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.
Adhere the sun into position using Matte Collage Medium.
For the easter eggs and bunnies, I used the Sizzix Bunny Games Thinlits Die set by Tim Holtz. Starting with the bunnies, I inked two separate pieces of the watercolor card the same way as I coloured the background but this time I used Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Old Paper Spray Stains and the second panel, which will be for the ears, and tummy, is inked with Spun Sugar and Kitsch Flamingo Sprays.
Die cut all the separate pieces to make the two bunnies and for the eyes, I used plain black card stock. Assemble each of the bunnies and ink the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. When building the layers for your bunnies, I would recommend using Sizzix Adhesive Sheets on the back of your cardstock before die cutting as this makes the assembly of the dies so much easier!
Now to create the easter eggs and once again, I used the Bunny Games die. The eggs come in two sizes, and also two separate dies to create each egg. For the solid part of the inked some Mixed Media Heavystock card with a combination of Speckled Egg Oxide and Distress Spray Stain, and a touch of Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and then blended the inks with a misting of water. Once dry, die cut your solid layers of the eggs. I used three small and one large for this make.
For the decorative layer of the egg, I inked panels of card using a rainbow of various Distress Inks which I blended onto the cardstock with a blending tool and spritzed with water. These are the colours I used but this is your make, so the choice is up to you! I then cut my decorative layer from the rainbow inked cardstock.
Layer all the pieces together to form the eggs to go with the bunnies.
To make the bunting, I cut all the pieces using the blue, pink and neutral card that was previously inked for the bunnies and eggs. After I layered the flags over the solid bunting layer, I then trimmed the bunting die cuts into various lengths.
To form the ledge that sits across the frame, I used a Scalloped Etcetera Trim and attached a straight edge trim over the top, which I actually cut from the waste of the packaging that is holding the trims. Apply a good amount of Crackle Paste over the top, set to one side to dry and once the paste has worked it’s magic, run the Hickory Smoke Distress Crayon over the crackles to accentuate them, blending the crayon with your finger or a semi dry baby wipe, to avoid any harsh lines.
Fix the crackled Etcetera Trim inside the frame, placing it directly onto the background and using Matte Collage Medium, attach some of the bunting pieces along the bottom edge of the trim.
Arrange the eggs along the ledge, using various depths of foam pads to form different heights and dimensions and then add the bunnies ~ one looking over the large egg and one sitting on the ledge.
Underneath the seated bunny, I added some texture using Mummy Cloth that I dyed with Speckled Egg and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain. Just spritz the sprays directly onto the cloth and then allow to dry before attaching small pieces of the cloth to the project ~ now Mr Bunny has something soft to sit on!!
At this stage, I also added a small bow that I tied using ribbon in my stash and I attached this to my bunny.
Adhere the remaining bunting pieces in swathes across the top of the framed panel and then add highlights to the flags, using a white gel pen.
Die cut a selection of daisies from white card and the tufts of grass from green card. For these tiny pieces, I always use the SideKick which is indispensable on my desk, and goes along with my larger machine, the Big Shot Foldaway. Place the small centres in the middle of each and then using a fine paint brush, paint the centres of each daisy with Mustard Seed Distress Ink. Attach the daisies and the grass tufts to my ledge, adding small clumps of moss in between.
To complete the project, I used a Theories Quote Chip, GO+SEE+EXPLORE. I lightly inked the edges and surface with Walnut Stain Distress Ink before attaching the chip directly beneath the etcetera trim.
Using tacks from the idea-ology Vignette Findings set, hammer one into either side of the trim and then add small clumps of moss around each of them. At this stage, I added small gems to the background and also attached the tiny leftover centres from the daisies.
Finally, I cut a piece of twine and tied tiny knots along the length of the twine.
Cut each knot and attached them to the bunting on the project, placing them where each piece joins together.
…and that final touch completes my framed panel and I hope you love what I’ve made and will be inspired by the techniques I’ve used and the project itself! See you all again very soon and Happy Crafting everyone…Emma x
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Thank you so much for stopping by, and thanks to Emma for being our guest!
